Brain-eating ameba found in Louisiana water system

August 29, 2014 2:08 AM

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Recent testing has confirmed the presence of Naegleria fowleri ameba in the St. John Water District 1 water system, which serves 12,577 individuals in the towns of Reserve, Garyville, and Mt. Airy. The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals announced confirmation of the ameba’s presence in the water system.

The water system sampling was done in conjunction with the DHH’s surveillance program that launched earlier in August. The ameba testing indicated that the water system did not comply with the State’s emergency rule that requires water systems to maintain a certain disinfectant residual level of 0.5...